Germany’s Rheinhessen, Nahe and Rheingau regions are hotbeds of hybrid wine production. While some first-generation disease-resistant hybrid grape cultivars (DRHGCs), often referred to as PIWIs (short for Pilzwid-erstandsfohige Rebsortens), prioritized pathogen resistance over wine quality, that mistake has now been rectified.
Read more
Areni Noir, considered to be indigenous to Armenia, is one of the world’s oldest-known cultivated grape varieties
Read more
Celebrating her San Francisco restaurant’s tenth birthday, Nightbird chef/ owner Kim Alter has achieved more than a milestone; she’s beaten[…]
Read more
There wasn’t an empty seat in the private room of San Francisco restaurant La Connessa when Cossart Gordon CEO Chris Blandy took the floor to present “A Toast to Independence with Cossart Gordon & Miles Madeira.” It was just one of many stops on a weeklong U.S. tour Blandy undertook to celebrate Madeira’s role in the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Read more
Acquerello’s Gianpaolo Paterlini finding joy one glass at a time.
Read more
Wines made from old vines have a more powerful phenolic structure, greater aromatic complexity, and more intensity with respect to expressing the characteristics of the vineyards they were sourced from.
Read more
Professionals who consider detecting and identifying aromas part of their stock in trade would be far more confident about their abilities if they had a better understanding of how the senses work together to interpret aromas.
Read more
San Francisco native Justin Chin possesses an almost stubborn optimism
about the future of hospitality. As general manager and wine director of The Happy Crane in his hometown’s Hayes Valley neighborhood, he’s quietly shaping one of the city’s most innovative dining experiences.
Thanks to new research about quercetin, the list of culprits in wine falls into three primary categories: tannins, biogenic amines (BAs), and alcohol.
Read more
Humans may use their sense of sight more,
but through smell, we can determine such things as the quality and consistency of foods and beverages.
French wines takes center stage in season two.
Read more
Calls for optimism are the theme of new year missives from wine industry colleagues near and far. One in particular came from a Northern California winemaker who is puzzling over the lack of adoption by Gen Z consumers, an increasingly fragmented and dispirite domestic market and included a request for insights that might inspire hope.
Read more
The message my students are sending to the makers of the world’s historic sweet wines amounts to a love letter. My passion for these historic wines can only be described as a love affair.
Read more
The University of California, Davis, has a long history of groundbreaking research that has significantly impacted the global wine industry.[…]
Read more
Anywhere from 1% to 4% of the population is affected by aphantasia, meaning their mind’s eye is effectively blind.
Read more
In 2021, The prestigious Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) wine competition began using artificial intelligence (AI) developed by Winespace, a Bordeaux-based firm founded by Sylvain Thibaud and Julian Laithier in 2015, as part of its judging protocol as a valueadded feedback mechanism for producers.
Read more
Bubbles are the hallmark of all sparkling wines, and they play a significant role in the cachet that surrounds this category. Even the terms “bubbles,” “mousse,” and “Champagne” elicit a pleasurable response in expert and novice consumers alike.
Read more
For years, I thought there was a secret club of “math people.” They just got it, as if the ability to comprehend complex formulas came baked into their DNA. The textbooks seemed pretty impenetrable, especially for higher-level math and statistics.
Read more
A guide to the producers of the North Adriatic region.
Read more
According to neuroscientist Camilla Arndal Andersen, how consumers describe the taste of food can be misleading largely due to inherent biases. Among the most problematic is the “courtesy bias,” which comes into play when people respond with what they see as a socially acceptable opinion that doesn’t accurately reflect how they feel. There’s also the “bias blind spot,” in which we think we’re less biased than others. In short, we’re biased about our biases.
Read more
Fog over the Pelletti Vineyard in Laguna Hills, Russian River Valley.
Read more
New metrics shed light on scores and medals in wine competitions
Read more
Of the more than 1,000 compounds that make up wine’s aromatic profile, desirable aromas are represented by a combination of 82 different volatile compounds, only some of which are detectable when present above threshold.
Read more
If studying Chianti Classico has not made your list of New Year’s resolutions, the Consorzi Vini e Olio Classico has just handed you an incentive; a free, online training program – Mooc Chianti Classico.
Read more
Morrow, who received MICHELIN’s California Sommelier Award in 2022, oversees the wine cellar at PRESS, which houses the largest collection of Napa Valley wines in the world and is focused on library wines. When adding a new bottling to the list, he looks for winemakers who have worked their way up at acclaimed producers and then started their own labels.
Read more
There’s no question the pandemic has amplified the influence of the experience economy, which gives businesses a potentially lucrative channel for success in an unpredictable market while enhancing their level of direct engagement with consumers.
Read moreAI-generated podcast summarizes four recent articles With advances in artificial intelligence (AI) making huge strides, podcasters look to be on[…]
Read more
Beyond the soleras and the enviable Montagne de Reims terroir, the wines of Champagne Palmer’s Vintage Collection reveal a third strength: The cooperative of seven producers has not altered its vineyard sourcing since its founding in 1947, forming what Vervier calls the “DNA of the brand.”
Read moreA group of professional palates recently gathered for dinner at Auro, the one-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Napa Valley in Calistoga, California, for a tasting hosted by Clos de los Siete founder Michel Rolland and managing director Ramiro Barrios to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the estate, located in Argentina’s Uco Valley.
Read more
As the labyrinth of wine industry certifications continues to expand, consumers often find themselves without a compass.
Read more
Gigondas joins Languedoc’s oldest white-wine AOP, Clairette du Languedoc, established in 1948, and Clairette de Bellegarde, a tiny Southern Rhône AOP in the Costières de Nîmes, in showcasing
Clairette, which often serves as the base in Southern Rhône and Languedoc blends.
A wine’s scent is one of the best indications of its quality. The hedonic effects of wine are influenced by hundreds of volatile aroma compounds, making it one of the most complex of food and
beverage products.
Interest in lower-acohol wines is growing among consumers putting producers like Jordan back in the limelight. “Our Bordeaux-style Cabernet and Burgundy-style Chardonnay wines . . . range between 12.6% and 13.8% [alcohol], compared to the California average of 14.5%,” says Jordan winemaker Maggie Kruse. “This represents far more than numbers; lower-alcohol wines have a more balanced flavor profile.”
Read more
Elizabeth Spencer’s Sarah Vandendriessche guides the Napa Valley Vintners’ environmental stewardship committee.
Read more
Let’s introduce novice wine consumers to the sweet wines of the world first and bridge them to dry styles made from the same grape varieties.
Read moreWith the creation of a new Tawny Port and White Port categories in March 2022, bottles sporting a 50-year age[…]
Read moreVisit Sacramento and Slow Food International will host Terra Madre Americas, the American version of the internationally acclaimed Terra Madre Salone del Gusto[…]
Read more
Biodiversity equals stability was the key message at Siclia’s second international SOStain symposium.
Read more
Wine aromas are t work when we pour a glass of grassy Sauvignon Blanc and feel a deep sense of relief.
Read more
Last December, a like-minded group of winemakers and winegrowers gathered to share the fruits of the labor and celebrate being part of the Slow Wine USA community to mark the release of the seventh edition of the Slow Wine Guide USA.
Read more
Due to their reputation as vectors for Brettanomyces and their unwelcome presence when discovered swimming in one’s glass, fruit flies have long been viewed as annoying pests by wine drinkers. But as research subjects, they’re surprisingly beneficial: Their brains are teaching us more about how we humans learn to differentiate aromas.
Read more
In May, Cyril Delarue, a sixth-generation pro- prietor of Champagne Bollinger who oversees the producer’s U.S. interests, celebrated the release[…]
Read more
I spoke with Émilien Boutillat, chef de cave at Champagne Piper Heidsieck, this week from New York for an update[…]
Read moreResearchers have identified compounds responsible for coconut and dried fruit aromas in red grape must and new wine.
Read moreCalifornia State University Fresno’s Dr. Miguel Pedroza talks with Matthew Malcom from California Ag Network about his smoke taint research.[…]
Read more
There’s more to wine grape stems than tannin. The discovery of new stem compounds has prompted researchers at the Laboratoire Excell biochemistry lab in Bordeaux to re-evaluate the benefits of including stems during this crucial stage of production.
Read more
No matter one’s knowledge of wine, there is simply no substitute for tasting. For those of us who keep an eye on the world’s ever-evolving wine regions, that means seizing an opportunity to taste as well as to meet the makers.
Read more
For Lonardi, the drying process known as appassimento that’s used to make Amarone produces wines that are expressive of terroir. Researchers studying
the compounds found in Corvina—the indigenous grape that is the foundation of the wine’s blend—agree. Typical markers for Corvina include balsamic and tobacco notes that increase during appassimento, and the presence of these markers in aged wines points to specific vintage conditions.
Wine culture in Itata Valley, the northernmost of Chile’s three southern wine regions, exemplifies what is known as “evolution in isolation.” Experiencing no phylloxera and only a modest incursion of international grape varieties, this isolated region has held on to its heritage grapes and ancestral winemaking practices seldom found beyond its borders.
Read more
Of the California wineries celebrating their 50th birth year in 2022, six gathered to mark the occasion with a retrospective tasting at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena. Each dazzled us with three wines while reflecting on five decades of harvests and providing a snapshot of their current vintages.
Read more
In an effort to expand my perception beyond my daily work with beverage alcohol, I tackle the evaluation of chocolate and fragrance a few times each year by judging hundreds of products as part of an unpaid panel.
Read more
As a species, we’ve been eating and drinking to intentionally alter our states of perception ever since. For generations, the indigenous peoples of the Congo, Nigeria, and Ghana have used the fruit (and leaves) of Synsepalum dulcificum, a shrub indigenous to West
and Central Africa, in ethnomedicine. The taste-altering properties of this flavorless, bright-red berry—dubbed “the miracle fruit,” it’s about the size of a coffee bean—make for a fascinating sensory experience.
While perceptual learning plays an important role in evaluating wine, there’s another phenomenon related to perception that arises from the wine itself: perceptual interaction. When our olfactory system
is confronted with complex aromas, we often perceive them as a single aroma due to odor blending in a process known as
configural perception (our perception of the smell of coffee as a single aroma is just one of many examples).
After tasting the Piper-Heidsieck Hors-Série 1971 ($499), a rare, late disgorged Champagne that spent 49 years resting peacefully on its lees, I was inspired to delve deeper into the role yeast autolysis plays in the flavor development of sparkling wine.
Read more
Our sense of smell is based on two delivery pathways, orthonasal and retronasal; that makes it the only “dual sense modality” we possess, one that provides information about things both external and internal to the body.
Read more
Slow Wine debuts its first stand-alone guide which has been expanded to cover the wineries and wines from the United States’ major wine growing regions of California, Oregon and Washington and New York states.
Read more
An infamous rooster named Maurice and a gaggle of contented geese have helped ensure biodiversity in France. In the face of complaints about the noises and smells typical of the countryside, the French Parliament passed a law on January 21, 2021, protecting what it calls the “sensory heritage” of its rural areas.
Read more
Vodcasting is where podcasting is headed. Superb vodcasting relies on the format you use and the quality and reliability of your recording software and internet connection.
Read moreIron Age wineries tamed the ancestor of the indigenous Bobal vines of Utiel-Requena.
Read more
In early February an unprecedented gathering of approximately 200 producers of Barolo and Barbaresco arrived in New York City to present their 2016 and 2017 vintages to the trade. They gathered at Center415 in midtown Manhattan for a walk around-tasting that ran for five hours; a boon for tasters who for once had time on our side.
Read moreThe oxygen transmission rate (OTR) of a wine closure is just one of several factors that contribute to the total package oxygen (TPO) in a bottle of wine.
Read more
When Sonoma’s La Crema Winery turned 40 last year, it celebrated the milestone with a unique exercise: Led by Dr. Henry “Hoby” Wedler, it was easily one of my top sensory experiences of 2019.
Read more
Watch highlights from the 2019 World Bulk Wine Exposition.
Read moreI’ll be teaching Wine 123: Causation and Detection of Wine Defects at Santa Rosa JC next semester (Spring 2020). Check out our video courtesy of the Distance Learning department’s Emily Hansen –
Read more
The 2019 Slow Wine Guide (free download) arrived in San Francisco on Monday, March 4th, for the Guide’s first stop on a tour of the US that included Portland, Denver, New York and Boston. With more than 100 wineries from Italy and California participating, the tour drew a record number of tasters reflecting the growing interest in wineries whose values and practices are aligned with Slow Wine.
Read moreFirst-ever Slow Wine Guide to Oregon and second California edition coming online… First-ever Slow Wine Guide to Oregon and second[…]
Read more
Save the date. On September 9th WSET alumni and anyone interested in learning more about WSET certification courses are invited to join Deborah Parker Wong, DWSET and host John Balletto for a professional mixer celebrating WSET’s 50th anniversary at Balletto Vineyards.
Read more
Save the date. On September 15th WSET alumni and anyone interested in learning more about WSET certification courses are invited[…]
Read more
When winemaker Andrea Lonardi took the stage at September’s Full Circle Beverage Conference in San Francisco to present a tasting[…]
Read more
While the level of residual sugar plays a role in the finished style of a wine, the color of all[…]
Read more
Seventy eight lots of barrel-selected 2016 Pinot Noir and three collaborative lots of Chardonnay were auctioned by the Willamette Valley[…]
Read more
This year the Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella marks its 50th anniversary, a milestone that coincides with the release of the[…]
Read more
From grapes desiccated by noble rot in the Tokaj wine region of Hungary burst forth a plethora of traditional and[…]
Read more
When it comes to wine storage, old habits are hard to break. But Dr. Paulo Lopes, Research and Development Manager[…]
Read more
The Gifts of Bacchus: Gilding the lily with Bordeaux Gold
Read more
With millions of unknown species existing in a ton of soil, biologist Edward Osborne Wilson has called bacteria “the dark[…]
Read more
It’s estimated that roughly 25 percent of the world’s wine production is sold as bulk wine, a segment that’s described[…]
Read more
While researching the current popularity of blended wines in preparation for a talk at the 2017 International Bulk Wine and Spirits[…]
Read more
Terra Alta is the most westerly of Catalonia’s DOs which are clustered around Barcelona and include Alella, Conca de Barberá, Costers del Segre, Empordà (on the border of France), Montsant, Penedés, Plà de Bagés, Priorat (DOPQ) and Tarragona. Both Cataluña and Cava are broader designations that also apply to the Catalonia region.
Read more
Sicily’s native grapes and the dawn of Italian wine culture.
Read more
The IBWSS was the first-ever bulk and private label wine and spirits event in California Close to 1500 wineries, distilleries,[…]
Read more
Primary wine flavors (the combination of aromas and tastes) come from the grape variety itself and are almost always fruity except when they’re not. Secondary aromas are those associated with post-fermentation winemaking and include yeast, lees, yogurt, cream, butter or cheese and a full spectrum of flavors derived from oak. Tertiary flavors are defined as deliberate oxidation, fruit development, bottle age or any combination thereof.
Read more
If you’re keeping tabs on wine quality in Southern Italy with its myriad indigenous grape varieties and oftentimes limited access to distribution, this update on the Sannio DOC should prove to be useful. Through a combination of research trips to Campania and the opportunity to judge the Radici del Sud “Roots of the South” wine competition which has been held in different venues in the town of Bari, Puglia since 2006, it provides a look at the key factors for the region and a snapshot of wine quality.
Read more
The International Bulk Wine & Spirits Show (IBWSS) kicked off in San Francisco on July 26 with a packed exhibition hall and a keynote address from Bobby Koch, President and CEO of the Wine Institute. That led to a full day of presentations, workshops and master classes from some of the top names in the bulk wine and spirits industry.
Read more
Brandon Staglin, recipient of the Mental Health Association’s 2017 Clifford W. Beers Award, has been recognized as the nation’s leading[…]
Read more
San Francisco continues to be one of the world’s most important destinations for leading players in the wine industry, so it’s no surprise that a major conference dedicated to the private label and bulk trade is making its way to the city on July 26-27.
Read more
In more ways than one, Champagne has begun infiltrating wineries in Sonoma and Napa counties. With several unprecedented examples that include Napa cult wine producer Sinegal launching its brand in conjunction with a prestige Champagne house, Sonoma’s Buena Vista Winery–branded Champagne and the unique partnership between Jordan Winery and the grower Champagne house of AR Lenoble, there’s a trend in the making.
Read more
Pyrazines—too much of a good thing and they’re a fault; absent in varieties like Sauvignon Blanc and they leave something[…]
Read more
Microbial fingerprints leave their mark on winery and vineyard sites — and on finished wine.
Read more
Many who consider the sensory evaluation of wine to be a purely subjective exercise cite our differences in perception as[…]
Read more
Minerality — Without question the most controversial and elusive of wine descriptors. This comes as no surprise given that the[…]
Read more
Just a few short years ago, integration was one of the biggest hurdles facing wineries of all sizes as they[…]
Read more
The Prosecco wines of Italy’s Veneto region, home to the country’s greatest concentration of winegrowing areas designated as DOC and[…]
Read more
Agricultural drones may be creating plenty of buzz, but their terrestrial cousins — the robots — are poised to make[…]
Read more
There’s no question that glassware can alter our perceptions of wine. It’s a phenomenon experienced by every resourceful consumer who[…]
Read more
Within the last decade, scientists have discovered hundreds of biologically active nutrients called phytochemicals, which are found in whole, unprocessed foods. There’s pterostilbene, a[…]
Read more
Humans are particularly sensitive to bitterness. Thanks to a small but novel family of 30 genes, we can perceive thousands[…]
Read more
A focus on sustainability
drives progress as Bronco
Wine Company hits a
1 billion bottle milestone.
Visits by two winemakers who work on either side of the Andes provided some perspective on the terroirs being targeted in Chile and Argentina for ultra-premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and cooler-climate varieties, including Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
Read more
Wine is, for the most part, water and ethanol which in turn become vehicles for the minor components that are[…]
Read more. 40 years of dedication to a craft is a life’s work and a milestone that demands to be celebrated. That’s exactly how[…]
Read more
The gentle, rolling terrain and southern shores of Italy’s Lake Garda are home to a unique indigenous white grape variety—Turbiana. Mistakenly referred to as Trebbiano di Lugana, the Turbiana grape is a relative of both Verdicchio and Trebbiano, but it’s genetically different from both, and the wines
produced from it differ as well.
A new method for sanitizing stainless steel tanks and barrels using ultraviolet light is finding a receptive audience in California. The BlueMorph technology has been in development for four years and is coming to market at an opportune time. According to founding partner Alex Farren, a biochemist and toxicologist, the method known as Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) uses little or no water, no chemicals and only takes 30 seconds to install. Depending upon size, tanks can be sanitized in less than 30 minutes.
Read more
In 1997 ozone was approved by the EPA as a safe and effective method of general sanitation for wineries. With[…]
Read more
Many advances pioneered by the dairy industry have improved winemaking in the cellar, but when it comes to using flash[…]
Read more
Lodi has long been synonymous with Zinfandel. The region which is defined by seven sub-regions produces 40 percent of the[…]
Read moreThe dust has settled after a flurry of restaurant openings in San Francisco last fall. Taking stock at the[…]
Read moreWhen producers from both sides of the Napa/Sonoma county line that bisects the Los Carneros AVA gathered at Cuvaison[…]
Read moreFor the maker, wine requires patience; it seems to mark time at a different pace than much of the[…]
Read more
When applied to wine grapes and to beef, the artisanal process of drying to concentrate and increase the complexity of[…]
Read more
Both the French and the Brits are drinking less Champagne, but America’s obsession with bubbles is growing. Sales of Champagne in[…]
Read more
“We’re in pop-up mode,” said vintner Christi Coors Ficeli who purchased Goosecross Cellars in 2013 and broke ground on a[…]
Read more
If everyone on your winegrowing and winemaking teams shares a common language, there’s less risk involved when it comes to[…]
Read more
Brand creator David Ravandi, founder of 123 Organic Tequila, found success by staying one step ahead of the premiumization curve.[…]
Read more
Pursuing a four-year degree in enology or viticulture has been, for many students, the most direct way to gain entry[…]
Read more
For wine, as with most consumer goods, packaging is an obsession, and rightly so; its role in the commercial success[…]
Read more
Consumer acceptance of wine packaging other than glass is growing, but fine glassware remains the undisputed tool of choice for[…]
Read more
Many Anderson Valley Pinot Noir producers time the commercial release of their wines around the annual Pinot Noir Festival and[…]
Read more
We’re kicking up the dust once again with the 2010 vintage presented by the Rutherford Dust Society at a blind[…]
Read more
It’s alive! Unlike its Left Bank counterpart, the Saint Émilion classification is indeed a living thing. The promotion of 17[…]
Read more
Early responses to the California Farm Bureau Federation’s 2013 agricultural workforce survey point to labor shortages in excess of 30%[…]
Read more
A virtual tidal wave of data is fueling the race toward accurately predicting consumer preferences and buying behavior. With intelligent[…]
Read more
On the first day of spring in the Southern Hemisphere, a cold, dry Zonda or rain shadow wind swept down[…]
Read moreOnce you’ve made the decision to pursue a professional certification, there’s more to making the grade than meets the eye.[…]
Read more